The study will utilize a new collagenase assay technique, immune absorption and crossed immune electrophoresis to examine the state of latent collagenase and collagenase in the cornea. We will determine whether the latent collagenase is a pro-enzyme or an enzyme inhibitor complex and their quantities in the cornea. By being able to quantitate the enzyme and its latent state, we can determine their amounts in wounded, alkali-burned and infected tissues and, therefore, how the balance from inactivity to activation has been achieved. By isolating the inhibitors and the tissue activator, we can test the affinity and the dissociation constants of the enzymes to their inhibitors and develop in vitro and in vivo models for testing drugs and other substances on the enzyme system in the normal and diseased cornea. These studies should result in a more direct understanding of the role and regulation of collagenase in the normal, wounded, and diseased cornea. The model for infection of the rabbit cornea with Pseudomonas aeruginosa will be further dissected in order to make it more reproduceable. Additional aspects of the Pseudomonas infection of the rabbit cornea will be investigated such as the role of the endotoxin, slime and the host response to the organisms themselves. A new inhibitor for the Pseudomonas protease will be tested along with antibiotics and corticosteroids in an effort to quickly and more thoroughly treat the complex and destructive infection.